Well, paperwork is done on my end; waiting for company, battalion and brigade commanders' signatures. Target date for me to leave Baghdad for Kuwait is 4 Aug. Will probably be spending a couple days in Kuwait waiting for a flight back to Europe and then the States. Will be on leave until 18 Aug. Plan on being in Norfolk for about a week, but will stay longer until the 17th if needed. Might sign in off leave early to save leave for a week or two with Michelle and the kids in Sept and a week toward Oct/Nov for traveling to job interviews in Va or Md. Don't know exactly when I'll be back to Ga. Called Mom today- got her voice mail on her cell phone. Will maybe try again tomorrow. Anyway, love you guys. Gotta' run.
Love,
Chris

Well, let's try this again. Was almost done typing, and the darn (not the word I used when it happened) power went out for 5 min. We'll be on generator power for about 5 min before it goes out and we're back on city power. Have I mentioned I hate Iraq??? And it's our fault, if you ask the locals, not the terrorists who take out power plants and transformers at every chance. Anyway, it wasn't boxes for my personal stuff we needed. It was boxes to box up individual chemical suits, boots and gloves in my trailer. We downloaded everything, counted it all up, and put it in trashbags, then repacked the trailer. They're supposed to be starting my paperwork today and I should hopefully be leaving Baghdad in a few days, spend a few days in Kuwait, then fly to an airbase in Europe somewhere to refuel, resupply and to Hunter Army Air Field (HAAF) in Savannah. Oh yeah, my flight from Kuwait to eventually the States will be a civlilan plane chartered by the military. At this point, I don't care. I'll fly in a C-17 or C-130 cargo plane again. It's how I got home from Korea in March 2001. Anyway, I'll be spending the night in Ga and then hit I-95 the next day, whenever it is I get home. Thanks everyone for your help with Mom and Dad and for your prayers. Only got about 3 minutes left on my hour. Costs $3/hour for the i-net then ya' gotta' get off. Yep, Iraq sucks! Anyway, looking forward to the pig roast. Think we should postpone it for a few months until Mom's okay and walking on her own. Of course we'll have family Christmas before then. I can wait. Want mom to be able to enjoy it to the fullest. I just wanna' come home to my Momma'. Kids worry as much about their parents as the parents do their kids. Gotta' go. Love you guys.

Chris

Thought I would put the address for the hospital on the blog in case someone needs it to send a card:
Sentara Norfolk General
600 Gresham Dr
Norfolk, VA 23507

Lol called today and said that Margaret is out of intensive care and into a room. Her room number is 673. The phone number is 757-668-4673. She said that Margaret was very tired today because of the move which happened in the middle of the night (did not get settled in until 3 in the morning) and also because of the many visits on Monday. Hopefully she will have a better day tomorrow. Gene called tonight with great news. He said that Christopher's command has okayed his coming home, so he should be home within the next 10 days. As we pray for Margaret's continued recovery, let's also pray for Chris's safe passage home.